The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has acknowledged Nigeria’s efforts towards achieving a polio-free Africa.
According to John Vertefeuille, team lead for Nigeria at the Centers for Disease Control, Nigeria was able to control Ebola because it deployed polio eradication response infrastructure.
“The recent Ebola outbreak in Nigeria was successfully interrupted in part because the polio eradication response infrastructure was used; in particular, members of the Nigeria Polio Emergency Operations Center were deployed to coordinate the multi-agency Ebola response,” Vertefeuille said.
For Nigeria to totally eradicate polio, he recommended continued national program innovations and strategies to improve polio vaccine coverage for underserved and hard-to-reach communities.
He said: “Final steps toward polio eradication in Nigeria will require continued national program innovations and strategies to improve polio vaccine coverage for underserved and hard-to-reach communities.”According to Forbes, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has not reported cases of polio in Nigeria since July 24, 2014 and the last in Africa reported in August, thus Vertefeuille’s enthusiasm is well-founded.
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